Mama’s Christmas Money

Christmas is over. Time to turn our attention to New Year’s resolutions, back to school plans, and reorganizing from holiday messes.

For some of us blessed with parents who give us money for Christmas, it is also time to turn our attention to using that Christmas money on something we have longed for, wanted, needed, or drooled over. Here are a few things that I have found to be well worth spending that generous Christmas gift on.

image via Plexus

1. Health, wellness, energy, balanced blood sugars, gut health, regularity, restful sleep, and more from PLEXUS products! In the past couple of months, I have found all of those things in Plexus products. Here are some that I recommend to get you started!

a.Plexus Slim—pink, berry flavored drink mix that you drink once a day for balanced blood sugars, reduced cravings, energy, and more. Love this stuff!

b.BioCleanse—ongoing cleansing for gut health, oxidation, and energy. The most amazing magnesium source available for calmness, ease of sleep, restfulness, and more. (No more prescription restless leg meds or Tylenol pm for me at night since I started taking four BioCleanse capsules a day! And I wake up early, quickly, and refreshed. This was HUGE for me after ten years of RLS and insomnia.)

c. ProBio 5—The BEST probiotic out there with five strands of probiotic for gut health and candida fighting! Yeast overgrowth doesn’t stand a chance with ProBio 5!

image via t-tapp.com

2. At home, effective exercise videos—T-Tapp. I can’t say enough about T-Tapp. I will admit that I haven’t been as consistent as I have wanted in the past couple of years, but with the motivation and energy from my Plexus products, I have re-incorporated T-Tapp into my daily life over the past couple of months, and I have already gone down a size. These are my favorite videos—and why, but if you want to get started right with T-Tapp exercises, I recommend skype training from my friend Trisch Richardson. She will get you on the path to inch loss in fifteen minutes a day—at home with no equipment!

a.Total Workout Super Slow—if you are not going to work with a trainer (Skype or in person), I recommend this dvd. If you are doing the moves correctly, your body will heat up within a few minutes of these super slow movements. Every detail of every move is explained and demonstrated thoroughly. You WILL learn how to get the activation required for T-Tapp exercises with this video!

b.Basic Workout—Once you know how to do the moves, this is the go-to video. This is the “fitness in fifteen minutes a day” that Teresa talks about. What other workout can you do for fifteen minutes a day at your own timetable in your home with no equipment and lose inches, get stronger, and feel great?

c.Ladybug Standing—My personal favorite workout is the standing portion of this Ladybug video. I like the pace. I like the focus on the abs and core. I just love it. It is longer than the Basic, so I usually break it up. (I get bored if I exercise much more than fifteen minutes unless it is dancing or zumba!)

d.Hit the Floor—While Ladybug has a floor portion, my favorite floor routine hands down is Hit the Floor. It is longer than the Basic (which is standing) workout, so I also break this one up. But I love this workout for abs, stomach, and more.

3. Face, hair, and beauty—I am not a “buyer.” I can go two or three months without going into a store other than a grocery. I don’t really like shopping, and as a mother of seven, I don’t like buying a lot of extra things. (Plus, I’ve been on a minimalistic kick for a couple of years, so I like to move things OUT of my house, not IN.) That is why it is significant that I use Plexus (I don’t buy supplements, oils, lots of vitamins, etc. Never been to a chiropractor, never had a massage…I’m pretty practical in my spending.) However, these few things listed below are things I have bought and absolutely love!

algae and activated charcoal. I replaced my morning and evening “anti-aging products” with this amazing cream, and I’m loving it!

b.T-Tapp Body Brush—I’m not patient enough to do the whole body brushing thing (though people who do it say that it is worth the time), but I love the T-Tapp body brush for the backs of my hands and my neck. It really does help us fifty-something-gals!

c.T-Tapp Face Brush—two or three minutes a day is all it takes to do the face brushing, and I think it really helps. Face brushing along with the Plexus Body Cream is working for me!

Image via Amazon

4. Other—there are a few things that I have bought over the past few years that I just absolutely love and recommend. Your Christmas money would be well spend on these things!

a.Door Jewelry Armoire—I used my Christmas money for this last year, and I am in shock how happy I have been with it. (I debated for a long time over this—it was just under a hundred dollars last year, and that is a big purchase for me…I didn’t want to use my money on something that wouldn’t last!) The jewelry stays put well; the door shuts and stays shut; it doesn’t move too much when we open or close the door; it is roomy; there is a mirror on the inside so that when you put something on, you don’t have to shut the door to look in the mirror at it. I just can’t say enough about this item!

b.Thirty-One Totes—I had never even heard of these until three years ago, but I made up for lost time quickly when my daughter began selling them for a while! I have several in different sizes and styles, and I can’t say enough good about them. They are durable, hold tons, and are easy to get things in and out of. I really love the file tote with a file insert for my teaching.

c.Wet Brush—Prior to using this hair brush, I was pulling out so much hair when I picked my hair after washing it. This brush is amazing. I wish I had, had it for my three daughters’ tangles many years ago. Mine has lasted for two years, so it is a durable brush too!

d.Office Supply Organizer—While this is listed as a scrapbook organizer, I use mine for pens, pencils, scissors, highlighters, post-it notes, paper clips, and more. I love the small size of it, and I get asked about it all the time! I have had a lot of systems for my personal school supplies, but this one has been my favorite and one that I have stuck with the longest!

e.My favorite crock pot—While the price on this has doubled since I got mine a few years ago (ouch!), if you do a lot of slow cooking, and you don’t like having a lot of crock pots around, this three-in-one is amazing. It has the three different sizes of crocks that fit down into it, so it is like having three crock pots for the storage of one! (They nest inside each other onto the base for storage.) I have loved this, and I actually have two of them. We call it my “dueling/dualing” crock pots when I have two soups going at once. (Sorry, I’m an English curriculum author!) I will warn you that this is not your typical “cook all day crock pot.” The high is very hot; the medium is more like high on most crock pots; and the Keep Warm is more like low. (In other words, it cooks fast and hot, so it takes some getting used to.)

I’ll stop there for now! “These are a few of my favorite things!” 🙂

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂